1997–98 British Basketball League season

1997–98 BBL season British Basketball League Basketball Roll of Honour BBL Greater London Leopards Play Off's Birmingham Bullets National Cup Thames Valley Tigers BBL Trophy Sheffield Sharks List of British Basketball League seasons British Basketball League 1996–97 1998–99 The 1997–98 BBL season was known as the Budweiser League for sponsorship reasons. The league featured the same 13 teams as the previous year, playing 36 games each. The only change saw the Hemel Royals renamed the Watford Royals. Greater London Leopards clinched their second successive Budweiser League title only by virtue of an overtime win in their final game of the season against Sheffield Sharks. Leopards' 102–106 victory in Sheffield meant they finished level on points with title-rivals Birmingham Bullets, but were crowned Champions due to a better head-to-head record over the Midlands team. Birmingham gained some consolation by taking their second Play-off Championship in three years at Wembley Arena, beating off a tough challenge from Thames Valley Tigers, winning 78–75. The Thames Valley Tigers won the National Cup and the Sheffield claimed their first uni-ball Trophy with an 82–79 win over London Towers at the National Exhibition Centre. London Towers represented the Budweiser League in European competition, participating in the EuroCup. Notable occurrences Greater London Leopards won the League title in the final game of the season on April 5, 1998, with a 102–106 overtime victory at Sheffield Sharks. Regulation time ended on 90–90, but Leopards' Eric Burks sunk 9 of their 16 overtime points to win the title for the second successive season. Mark Woods Leopards are the Champions https://www.britball.com/archive98/bl050498.html 1998 2012-12-07 BritBall Budweiser League Championship (Tier 1) Final standings PosTeamPldWL%Pts1 Greater London Leopards 36 29 7 0.806582 Birmingham Bullets 36 29 7 0.80658 3 Newcastle Eagles 36 25 11 0.69450 4 Sheffield Sharks 36 25 11 0.69450 5 Thames Valley Tigers 36 24 12 0.66748 6 London Towers 36 23 13 0.63846 7 Derby Storm 36 16 20 0.444328 Manchester Giants 36 15 21 0.41630 9 Leicester Riders 36 15 21 0.41630 10 Chester Jets 36 15 21 0.41630 11 Crystal Palace 36 8 28 0.22216 12 Worthing Bears 36 7 29 0.19414 13 Watford Royals 36 3 33 0.0836 = League winners = Qualified for the play-offs Playoffs Quarter-finals (1) Greater London Leopards vs. (8) Manchester Giants #eee April 14, 1998 Manchester Giants 86 93 Greater London Leopards April 16, 1998 Greater London Leopards 98 107 Manchester Giants #eee April 19, 1998 Greater London Leopards 81 90 Manchester Giants Manchester wins series, 2–1 (2) Birmingham Bullets vs. (7) Derby Storm #eee April 11, 1998 Derby Storm 79 111 Birmingham Bullets April 14, 1998 Birmingham Bullets 84 86 0-1 Derby Storm #eee April 19, 1998 Birmingham Bullets 96 81 Derby Storm Birmingham wins series, 2–1 (3) Newcastle Eagles vs. (6) London Towers #eee April 12, 1998 London Towers 68 63 Newcastle Eagles April 14, 1998 Newcastle Eagles 73 50 London Towers #eee April 19, 1998 Newcastle Eagles 85 87 London Towers London wins series, 2–1 (4) Sheffield Sharks vs. (5) Thames Valley Tigers #eee April 11, 1998 Thames Valley Tigers 84 83 Sheffield Sharks April 14, 1998 Sheffield Sharks 75 97 Thames Valley Tigers Thames Valley wins series, 2–0 Semi-finals #eee May 2, 1998 Birmingham Bullets 90 80 Manchester Giants Wembley Arena, London May 2, 1998 Thames Valley Tigers 78 71 London Towers Wembley Arena, London Third-place game #eee May 3, 1998 Manchester Giants 87 82 London Towers Wembley Arena, London Final #eee May 3, 1998 Report Birmingham Bullets 78 75 Thames Valley Tigers Tony Dorsey (MVP) 28, Reggie Kirk 18, Nigel Lloyd 16, HL Coleman, Fab Flournoy Lloyd 9 John McCord 24, Dameon Page 19, Tony Holley 13, Casey Arena, Jason Siemon, Adrian Cummings Holley 13 Wembley Arena, London ? Bullets coach Mike Finger Tigers coach Paul James National League Division 1 (Tier 2) Final standings PosTeamPldWL%Pts1 Richmond Jaguars 22 20 2 0.958402 Plymouth Raiders 22 19 3 0.86438 3 Stevenage Rebels 22 16 6 0.72732 4 Teesside Mohawks 22 14 8 0.63628 5 Solihull Chiefs 22 13 9 0.59226 6 Coventry Crusaders 22 13 9 0.592267 Guildford Pumas 22 10 12 0.45520 8 Oxford Devils 22 9 13 0.40918 9 Westminster Warriors 22 6 16 0.27312 10 Cardiff Phoenix 22 4 18 0.1828 11 Mid-Sussex Magic 22 4 18 0.1828 12 Brixton TopCats 22 4 18 0.1828 = League winners = Qualified for the play-offs Playoffs Semi-finals Richmond Jaguars 208 195 (agg.) Teesside Mohawks #eee Plymouth Raiders 164 146 (agg.) Stevenage Rebels Final #eee Richmond Jaguars 82 67 Plymouth Raiders National League Division 2 (Tier 3) Final standings PosTeamPldWL%Pts1 Solent Stars 24 23 1 0.962462 Cardiff Clippers 24 20 4 0.83340 3 London Towers II 24 19 5 0.79338 4 South Bank University Bulls 24 14 10 0.58328 5 Bournemouth Dolphins 24 14 10 0.58328 6 Wolverhampton 24 12 12 0.500247 Flintshire Flyers 24 11 13 0.45822 8 Northampton 89ers 24 10 14 0.41720 9 Slough Chargers 24 9 15 0.37518 10 Liverpool Atac 24 9 15 0.37518 11 Swindon Sonics 24 9 15 0.37518 12 Chessington Wildcats 24 5 19 0.20810 13 Thames Valley Tigers II 24 1 23 0.0422 = League winners = Qualified for the play-offs Playoffs Semi-finals Cardiff Clippers 171 175 (agg.) London Towers II #eee Solent Stars 202 185 (agg.) South Bank University Bulls Final #eee 9 May 1998 Solent Stars 70 68 London Towers II NYNEX Arena Sainsbury's Classic Cola National Cup Fourth round Team 1 Team 2 Score Worthing Bears Crystal Palace 106-102 Coventry Crusaders Thames Valley Tigers 67-91 Stevenage Rebels Manchester Giants 60-93 Leicester Riders Newcastle Eagles 94-76 Leopards Derby Storm 99-90 Sheffield Sharks Watford Royals 85-70 Plymouth Raiders London Towers 77-99 Chester Jets Birmingham Bullets Quarter-finals Team 1 Team 2 Score Sheffield Sharks Leicester Riders 66-69 London Towers Manchester Giants 75-67 Birmingham Bullets Worthing Bears 111-80 Thames Valley Tigers Leopards 97-89 Semi-finals Team 1 Team 2 1st Leg 2nd Leg Thames Valley Tigers Birmingham Bullets 63-55 63-70 London Towers Leicester Riders 76-74 84-90 Final #eee 17 January 1998http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=oxfshlib&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=IF500160468&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0 "For the Record." Times [London, England] 19 Jan. 1998 The Times Digital Archive Thames Valley Tigers 82 78 Leicester Riders John McCord 27, Dameon Page 18, Casey Arena 14, Jason Siemon 14, Tony Holley Billy Singleton 24, Gene Waldron 21, JaRon Boone 12, James Havrilla, Geno Ford Sheffield Arena ?Tigers coach Paul James Riders coach Bob Donewald uni-ball Trophy Group stage Northern Group TeamPtsPldWLPercent1.Newcastle Eagles65320.6002.Leicester Riders65320.6003.Manchester Giants65320.6004.Sheffield Sharks45230.4005.Chester Jets45230.4006.Derby Storm45230.400 Southern Group TeamPtsPldWLPercent1.Gtr. London Leopards105501.0002.Thames Valley Tigers65320.6003.Birmingham Bullets65320.6004.Watford Royals45230.4005.Crystal Palace45230.4006.Worthing Bears05050.000 Sheffield finished ahead of Chester and Derby by having the best record in matches between the three teams and qualify as fourth-placed finishers with the best record ahead of Watford on basket difference. London Towers received a bye into Quarter-finals. Quarter-finals Greater London Leopards vs. Thames Valley Tigers #eee January 14, 1998 Greater London Leopards 83 79 Thames Valley Tigers January 21, 1998 Thames Valley Tigers 87 95 Greater London Leopards Greater London wins on aggregate, 178–166 London Towers vs. Manchester Giants #eee January 14, 1998 London Towers 90 69 Manchester Giants January 21, 1998 Manchester Giants 69 69 London Towers London wins on aggregate, 159–138 Newcastle Eagles vs. Birmingham Bullets #eee January 13, 1998 Newcastle Eagles 70 66 Birmingham Bullets January 24, 1998 Birmingham Bullets 86 95 Newcastle Eagles Newcastle wins on aggregate, 165–152 Sheffield Sharks vs. Leicester Riders #eee January 13, 1998 Sheffield Sharks 97 94 Leicester Riders January 21, 1998 Leicester Riders 83 99 Sheffield Sharks Sheffield wins on aggregate, 196–177 Semi-finals London Towers vs. Newcastle Eagles #eee February 3, 1998 London Towers 92 74 Newcastle Eagles February 13, 1998 Newcastle Eagles 89 89 London Towers London wins on aggregate, 181–163 Sheffield Sharks vs. Greater London Leopards #eee February 4, 1998 Sheffield Sharks 103 85 Greater London Leopards February 12, 1998 Greater London Leopards 90 82 Sheffield Sharks Sheffield wins on aggregate, 185–175 Final #eee March 8, 1998 Report Sheffield Sharks 82 79 London Towers John Amaechi (MVP) 40, Terrell Myers, Mark Robinson, Wilbur Johnson John Amaechi, 16 Danny Lewis 23, Keith Robinson, James Hamilton, Neville Austin, Marco Baldi, Tamir Berkovitch Keith Robinson, 13 National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham ?Sharks coach Chris Finch Towers coach Kevin Cadle Dairylea Dunkers All-Star Game #eee March 22, 1998 7.05pm GMT Report Northern All-Stars 168 175 Southern All-Stars Leon McGee, 25 John White, 32 Sheffield Arena, Sheffield +Northern All-StarsPlayer Team UK John Amaechi Sheffield Sharks USA Billy Singleton Leicester Riders USA Robert Churchwell Manchester Giants USA JaRon Boone Leicester Riders USA Corey Jackson Chester Jets USA Ted Berry Derby Storm USA Mark Robinson Sheffield Sharks USA Leon McGee Newcastle Eagles USA Rob Phelps Newcastle Eagles USA Mark Boyd Newcastle Eagles USA Todd Cauthorn Sheffield Sharks USA Croatia James Havrilla Leicester Riders Coach USA Craig Lynch Newcastle Eagles +Southern All-StarsPlayer Team USA Tony Dorsey Birmingham Bullets USA Eric Burks Greater London Leopards USA John White Greater London Leopards USA John McCord Thames Valley Tigers USA Tony Holley Thames Valley Tigers USA Brad Wedel Crystal Palace USA Danny Lewis London Towers Canada Greg Francis Worthing Bears Barbados Nigel Lloyd Birmingham Bullets USA Keith Robinson London Towers USA Robert Youngblood Greater London Leopards UK Alan Hopper Watford Royals Coach USA Billy Mims Greater London Leopards Statistics leaders CategoryPlayerStatPoints per gameUSA Tony Dorsey (Birmingham Bullets) 26.09Rebounds per game USA Makeba Perry (Greater London Leopards) 11.81Assists per game Jamaica Cleave Lewis (Watford Royals) 5.78Steals per game USA Casey Arena (Thames Valley Tigers) 3.11Blocks per game Canada Brendan Graves (Derby Storm) 2.77 Seasonal awards Most Valuable Player: Eric Burks (Greater London Leopards) Coach of the Year: Billy Mimms (Greater London Leopards) All-Star Team: Eric Burks (Greater London Leopards) John Amaechi (Sheffield Sharks) Ted Berry (Derby Storm) Tony Dorsey (Birmingham Bullets) Tony Holley (Thames Valley Tigers) Danny Lewis (London Towers) Nigel Lloyd (Birmingham Bullets) John McCord (Thames Valley Tigers) Leon McGee (Newcastle Eagles) John White (Greater London Leopards) References 30em 1996–97 season 1998–99 season BBL seasons 1997–98 Category:British Basketball League seasons 1 British